Monday, September 30, 2019

Cat Sympathy

My friend that I have had all my life, we grew up next door to one another, her cat just passed away, she is very close to her two cats and having this one past I know was very hard.  I tried to color this cat to look like hers.


I used a tissue box for the top portion of the background and then embossed some green cardstock for the bottom piece. I colored the stamp with pencils, her cat had soft coloring and I thought pencils would help me achieve that better.

Whimsy Stamps - Cat stop thinking about you stamp set, colored w/pencils
PPD - Stitched Curved Coved Rectangles dies
Cuttlebug - border embossing folder
Starform - border stickers
Craftaroo - clear gems


Hope your week is off to a great start,
We have 3 more days of high 80's to low 90's temps then we will be back to normal in the 70's, I can't wait :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and say Hi,

Connie

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Your Kindness

I have seen so many cute things done with this set, and I plan on trying them all, but first of all I just wanted to learn how to layer everything up, as you can see I need a little more practice but not bad for my first one :)


I added a little bit of pen work around the image but the rest are all the stamps in the set.

Stampin up - Painted Harvest stamp set
Sharpie pen for dots

Adding some more pictures from our Minnesota trip, today we were in Grand Marais at the Lighthouse.



This boat was taking people for a ride around the bay.





We were surprised to see that there was still flowering trees in July up there.





Now the boat was heading out into the lake.



 I am not sure where this was, but it was a very pretty pull off.





Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy a fun and creative weekend!

Connie

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Foxy

I am lucky that my coloring calendar has images of foxes in it that I can use for my friend who loves foxes. I colored this with markers. The image already had leaves around him, so I decided to add a wreath to have him laying in and adding some more leaves to the side and a banner for the sentiment.


Coloring for calm 2017 calendar image - colored w/markers
Spellbinder - Wreath, Banner ribbons and A2 matting basics A dies
Memory Box - Botanical Stem die

I went through some more pics of our trip to Minnesota in July, today is from High Falls in Grand Portage State Park. They have a nice path to the falls and a small path that goes along it for a little ways. On the other side of the river is Canada.





The pic above is looking down the river.


Tree growing within a tree trunk, life goes on.


Going down the road after leaving the park, I loved how you can't really tell where the water ends and the sky begins :)


This was taken in the side yard of a house, you can see in the close up shot that he situated animals made out of ceramic or cement I believe all throughout the property, it was really cool. You can tell that some of the rocks were put in certain places too, can't imagine the work that went into all of it, they covered a good amount of land with them.  My hubby took pictures of all that was around his house but I felt funny taking pictures of their home, wish I would have now.


Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and say Hello,

Connie

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Sepia

Last sympathy card was for the son of this man that passed away today's card is going to his sister, I sat there deciding what to do for her card when I looked at Power Poppy's Sepia Challenge, I thought that would make for a nice subtle card but I had never tried coloring this way. I decided to go with colored pencils thinking that would give me a softer look and I used 4 different tones of browns.  I actually really like the way this turned out and may use this for sympathy cards in the future.  That is what I like about these challenges, we don't always think to try something different until we are challenged to.


I inked around the image before adding foam tape and adding it to my card base.


Power Poppy - Countryside bouquet Deluxe stamp set
Hero Arts - Everyday Sayings stamp
Spellbinders - A2 matting basics B die

Thanks so much for stopping by today,
Hope you are having a good week so far,

Connie

Monday, September 23, 2019

B&W with green

Sad to say I am in need of another sympathy card, when I went through my challenges I thought the Time Out Challenge blog had a Black and white with green inspiration photo and that would work for this card for a guy in our church who lost his Dad.

It ended up being a little more than what I usually like to do for a sympathy but I went with it anyway.


In this picture maybe you can see how I popped up some of the leaves with foam tape and the rest I adhered directly to the paper. I did add a bit of ink to the leaves to tone it down a bit.

Best Ocassions - Mixed Media paper
Memory Box - Fresh Foliage
Hero Arts - Everyday sayings sentiment stamp
Spellbinders - Labels trio die

This challenge is open until the 25th if you are interested.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, and hope you have a great week ahead.

Connie

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Botanical

I thought a nice purple backdrop would be so pretty for these flowers, and I had to add a butterfly for this person too ;) I love these flowers and butterflies that come in this set of images from Tim Holtz, I guess they have a bit of a vintage feel to them but I added them to a more contemporary background and I still feel like they work well.



Of course I had to add a bit of sparkle with my stickles, the bow turned out looking more blue in the picture but in real life it was more of a purple.

Tim Holtz - Botanical Layers
Spellbinders - A2 matting A, Symmetry in Space and Ribbon Tags Trio dies
Gina Marie- Birthday words sentiment stamp
Ribbon
Stickles - Dusty Concord


Thanks for dropping by today, I hope you are enjoying a great Sunday!

Connie

Friday, September 20, 2019

Embossing

I have two cards for the challenge over at Sisterhood of Crafters blog.  The challenge is to use wet or dry embossing, I went with dry.  I had these two embossed panels in my stash that were just crying to be used :) 

The first I made for my nephew who is in his late 30's so I was going for a more mature card. I love the colors in this especially because it is for an Autumn birthday. I added some orange paper behind my happy sentiment die, so they would stand out a little better.


Darice - Steam punk embossing folder
Hero ARts - wood frame die
Papertrey ink - Happy Die set
DCWV - Burlap paper

The next card is for my great nephew turning 20, so I went with a bit more colorful, and hopefully younger feel to the card. The die cut of Gears I cut from a piece of Alcohol ink background.



Darice - Steam punk embossing folder
Spellbinders - A2 Distressed edges die
Provocraft - Jagged edge scissor
Brea Reese - Blush, Lavender and Sky alcohol inks for Gears die

The challenge ends on the 22nd of September so if you want to play along there isn't much time.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a great weekend!

Connie

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Sympathy

My sister in law lost her father, I have reached for this set many times for a sympathy card, not really sure what it is about it, maybe feels peaceful. Instead of leaving the background plain I stamped a script background stamp first. I then stamped the leaves and then stamped again right away without reinking the stamp. Adding a bow and sentiment.


Spellbinders - A2 matting basics B die
Inkadinkado - Fake handwriting and Garden delight stamps
BoBunny - Sentiment stamp
Spool o ribbon


Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today,

Connie

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Roses

I am sharing once again a flower from my coloring calendar images, this time I colored with pencils.

I added a bit of shimmer to it with some washi tape at the top. I really like the way the flower pops from the dark green background. I added some crystal drops to the background also.


Coloring for calm 2017 calendar image, colored w/pencils
Tim Holtz - Rose design tape
Nuvo Crystal drops - pale gold

I am also sharing more pictures from our Minnesota trip we took in the beginning of July, I may just get through them by the end of the year, LOL!

I am not sure what these falls were called, but boy did they have some really cool trees around them, and if you have followed me long enough you know I like my weird trees.



My hubby takes some time when he was taking pictures of the falls and this little guy was quite entertaining while I waited :)




Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, hope your week is going well,

Connie

Monday, September 16, 2019

Pirate

I have used this stamp for quite a few of my younger great nephews, always feels good when you know you used a stamp many times and got your money's worth out of it :)

I have colored them with markers.



Stampavie - A sword fight stamp, colored w/markers
Sassafras - Apple Jack paper
Memory Box - Stitched Rectangle layers
Stamps of Life - Postmark2stamp
Brad



Hope you all are well and have a wonderful week,
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Connie

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Morning Glory

No challenges today, just went through my stamps and thought this would be perfect for my friend.

I used my die cut border on an angle to give it a little more interest. In this set you can add your own sentiment in the post card and I liked this one. I added a few stickles inside the stamped morning glories for some sparkle and a gem sticker to my flower in the corner.



Our Daily Bread design - Morning glory stamp, colored w/markers
October Afternoon - 5 & Dime paper
Spellbinders - Scalloped Borders two die
Prima flower
EK Success - sparkle sticker, flower center
Stickles - yellow, in stamped flower centers


Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, and leaving me a comment, I really do appreciate hearing from you,

Connie

Friday, September 13, 2019

Frames

These challenges have sure given me a starting off point here lately when I have sat down to make something and I just don't have any idea what I want to do.  This time it was the Memory Box Challenge I went with, I started looking through my dies I have of theirs and saw this tree die that I hadn't used in some time and said well that looks like a frame, so I went with it.  I used a background I had made previously, I know the tree frame looks black but it is really a dark brown, I used a lighter brown and did some inking on it for the trees farther back.  I did use foam tape on the tree frame in order to give a bit of dimension to the scene.


I had a left over piece that I had used gilding flakes, so I cut the leaves from that to add a little shimmer. Cut the deer 3 times from pattern paper to give a little dimension, added a few birds and my Autumn forest scene was done.

Memory Box - Grand Forest Archway, Small forest archway, Grove leaves, Flying birds and Valley Deer Trio dies
Background done using Nuvo Shimmer Powder - Green Parade and Blue Blitz

You have until September 29th for this challenge if you would like to play along.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today, hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Connie

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Featured Challenge

Over at Double D Challenges blog the challenge this time is to use their inspiration photo and pick something to be featured on your card.  I went with the animal quilt, I am in need of a guy card for my nephew and thought that might make a fun card, I added a few more things than just animals but it is for a fall birthday so had to add some leaves :)


I started off with the block panel die, cutting it 3 times, once out of white then yellow and then the dark brown.  I used the yellow and dark brown to fill the skinny parts and used the white panels to do all my stamping, adding them back into the die.

Frantic stamper - Color Block card panel die
Inkadinkado - Friendly Characters, Trees & leaves, and Butterflies & Birds stamp sets
Hot off the press - Life Happens Greetings stamp

Here is a picture of what you can use as inspiration for your card and you have until September 15th to give it a try.


Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today,

Connie

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Rainbows

I have been wanting to make a rainbow card for sometime now, I am thinking years, and when Time out Challenges blog had this challenge I thought now is the best time :) If you want to play along the challenge ends tomorrow.

I have often wondered if I could do it with my Oval dies and so now was as good of a time as any to give it a try, I couldn't get many different layers since I was limited on the number of dies that are in my set, and I didn't get them cut quite  cut evenly but I think it worked for the most point. I cut an oval with my white cardstock and layered the different rounds onto my white base and then put all that onto my card base.  The two clouds reached all the way across the bottom, one cloud is very big and the other is smaller.



I added a bit of sparkle to the rainbow with my spectrum sparkle pen.


Spellbinders - Classic Ovals die
Taylored Expressions - Swirly clouds die
Sticker sentiment
Spectrum Noir Sparkle clear pen on rainbow

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today,

Connie


Monday, September 9, 2019

Just for you

I am once again attempting to clean my craft room, it has gotten out of control, when I get the time to get in there all I want to do is make cards, I came across these tissue box pieces that I had cut up ready to use on a card and while looking through what I had I thought this one was quite peaceful.  I needed cards for a friend going through chemo treatment and someone at church who had lost their mother so I decided to use them to make these cards.


On this one I just a die cut and cut it 3 times to give it some lift and added some 3mm Turquoise Gems from Pizzazz Aplenty


I used the Elizabeth Craft designs, with sympathy die and added a pearl to do the "i" on With.

I thought I would continue more pictures from our trip to Minnesota in July, I have been very busy with posting cards that I keep forgetting about the trip pictures.

These first pictures are near Beaver Bay.






In my last post on Minnesota I shared a picture of Split Rock Lighthouse from far away here it is when we actually went to it.



In this next picture you may have to click on it to really see the dragonfly.


We are in for a week of temps in the 90's and humidity so higher temps with the heat index, this is the kind of weather we get in late July early August, I sure hope Autumn doesn't pass us by again and we go from hot to cold.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today.
Hope you enjoy a great week,

Connie